Since the end of World War II, we have experienced a shift in conflict dynamics, from inter-state to intra-state conflicts. In 2016 alone, the world witnessed 47 intra-state conflicts. Today, wars are fought within state borders between a multiplicity of actors over the distribution of political power and national wealth both at and between the center and subnational governance levels. Marginalized groups are vying for greater autonomy at the local level, while those in control of the state—be they majorities or dominant minority groups—seek to consolidate political power at the center. Such intra-state conflicts with subnational dimensions are among the most protracted and violent conflicts.
Territorial Self-governance
Institutional Outcomes of Territorial Contestation: Lessons from Post-Communist Europe, 1989–2012
Co-authored with Zsuzsa Csergő and Philippe Roseberry and published in Publius, this article starts with the...
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Reflections on the Politics of Stalemate
Co-authored with Karl Cordell, this Introduction to a Special Issue on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict offers a broad...
Conflict Management in Divided Societies: Theories and Practice
Taking a multi-perspective approach to the study of conflict management in divided societies and offering a wide range of perspectives from leading experts in the field, this edited volume examines the philosophies underpinning constitutional design, the actors and...
The Merits and Perils of Territorial Accommodation
Published in Political Studies Review in 2011, this review essay discusses three volumes on territorial accommodation as a conflict settlement strategy: Brancati, D. (2009) Peace by Design: Managing Intrastate Conflict through Decentralization. Oxford: Oxford...
The Emerging Practice of Complex Power Sharing
Examining three main schools of conflict resolution -- centripetalism, consociational power sharing and power dividing -- and contrasting their analysis and recommendations with current policy to resolve self-determination, this chapter argues that there is an...
Managing ethno-national conflict: towards an analytical framework
Published in 2011, this article argues that the management of ethno-national conflict remains an important issue on the security agendas of states and international organisations alike, from the Western Balkans to the Middle East and Asia Pacific, from sub-Saharan...
Governing (in) Kirkuk
Focusing on the dynamics of the process of settling the status of Kirkuk, principally within the framework of the current Iraqi constitution of 2005 and the 2009 proposals of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, this article and takes into consideration the...
What does the future hold for Kirkuk?
Three months after parliamentary elections were held in Iraq, a new government has yet to be formed, and it appears that the status of Kirkuk remains one of the stumbling blocks on the way to forming a new coalition.